State v. Natcisse

63 So. 182, 133 La. 584, 1913 La. LEXIS 2070
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 30, 1913
DocketNo. 19,942
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 63 So. 182 (State v. Natcisse) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Natcisse, 63 So. 182, 133 La. 584, 1913 La. LEXIS 2070 (La. 1913).

Opinion

PROVOSTY, J.

The information against the accused charges him in one count with having entered a railroad car in the nighttime without breaking, with intent to steal, which is made a crime punishable by imprisonment, with or without hard labor, by Act 47, p. 40, of 1890, and in a second count, with having, after having so entered said car, stolen then and there two sacks of flour—

“the said flour at the time being then and there in transit and in the legal custody of the Louisiana Western Railroad Company.”

[1] The following extract from the brief of the learned counsel for accused very succinctly states the matter covered by bills of exceptions Nos. 1, 2, and 3:

“C. A. Eutes, the first witness sworn by the state, testified on his direct examination that he was a detective in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, the railway system of which the Louisiana Western Railroad Company is a part; that he had investigated the matter of the robbery of the particular car defendant was charged with entering; that he had, on the day previous to the night when defendant is charged with having entered the car in question and stolen therefrom two sacks of flour, found the car to be sealed, and the seal to be intact; that the car in question was attached to a train of 40 cars; that the flour in the car was of a brand known as the “White Elephant” flour; that witness, in the course of his investigation, had been unable to find that particular brand of flour on sale in any of the stores in the city of Lafayette, but that he had only visited six out of seven stores in the said city dealing in flour, and that so far as he knew there might be other stores in the city where flour was sold. He also testified that the accused had made a confession to him and to Sheriff Louis Lacoste.”

The said bills of exceptions 1, 2, and 3 were taken to the rulings of the court in refusing to allow the said witness Eutes to answer, on the cross-examination, the following questions:

(1) “Q. You have testified that the seal of this particular car was examined by you, as a detective for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, on the evening of the day before the alleged crime was committed, and you have stated that the seal of the car was intact. Now, I ask you why you did not cause the arrest of this party and of the other parties arrested in connection with this alleged crime on the charge of breaking as well as entering the box car in question ?”
[587]*587(2) “Q. Is it not a part of your official duty, as detective of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, to cause the arrest of persons whom you suspect to have stolen the property of the company, and, if you answer in the negative, I ask you what are your official duties, then, as the detective of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company ?”
(3) “Q. You have testified that you are a detective of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and that the brand of flour taken from the car was the “White Elephant” brand, and you have testified that you visited six or seven stores in the town of Lafayette with a view of ascertaining whether they handled the “White Elephant” flour. Now, I ask you if these six or seven stores that you visited are the only stores in the city of Lafayette handling flour, and if they are not why did you not, as a detective seeking to ferret out this crime, visit all the stores in the town of Lafayette to ascertain whether or not any of them dealing in flour handled this particular brand of flour?”

The complaint is that by these rulings the accused was denied the right of cross-examination. But the materiality of this cross-examination is not shown. Its object is said to have been to bring out and expose the bias and interest of the witness. But it is not suggested how the conduct of the witness in not causing the parties in question to be prosecuted for breaking as well as for entering, or in not having visited all the stores in Lafayette selling flour, instead of only six or seven of them, could possibly show either bias or interest on his part, and, after the witness had testified that he was a detective in the employ of the railroad company, and that he had investigated the robbery in question, it is not apparent of what utility the question as to what are his functions as detective, and as to whether they include the duty of causing the arrest of culprits, could be for the purpose of showing bias or interest. Whatever bias or interest may be deduced from the facts inquired about was already fully shown by the fact itself of being an employed detective. The learned trial judge was of opinion that.the cross-examination was a mere wasting of the time of the court, and he appears to us to have been entirely right.

[2] The subject-matter of bill of exceptions No. 5 is stated in the brief of counsel for accused, as follows:

“Bill of exceptions No. 5 relates, in a measure to the same subject-matter as that contained in bill numbered 4.
“Louis Lacoste, sheriff of the parish of Lafayette, as a witness for the state, was asked on cross-examination the following question:
“ ‘Q. I hold in my hand, Mr. Lacoste, an affidavit sworn to by you on the 24th day of March, 1913, before R. W. Elliott, Judge of the city court of the city of Lafayette, in which you charge Jos. Guidry, John Gary, Oscar Chiasson, Edgar Richard, Nathan Stoner, Jos. Maxille, John Natcisse, and Eugene Logan with breaking and entering into a box car, P. F. E. No. 2951, and did steal and carry away 2,760 pounds of flour, valued at $82.80. Now I ask you if the railroad detective, Mir. Eutes, who has just left the witness stand, was not with you when you appeared before Judge Elliott to make this affidavit?’
“The court, in disallowing the answering of the question by the witness, stated that, if the attorney for defendant would propound his question in the following language, he would permit the witness to answer it, viz., ‘whether or not Mr. Eutes was with him when he made 'the affidavit,’ but refused to allow the question to be put and answered in the form used. Defendant argued the admissibility of the evidence on the ground as having for its purpose:
“First. To show as a part of the res gestae that other persons than the defendant were accused of entering box car No. P. F. E. 2961 on the night of March 20, 1913* on the same occasion the accused is charged with having entered the box car and stolen the flour.
“Second. For the purpose of showing as a matter of defense that all ‘the flour might have been stolen by the other persons who had pleaded guilty, as stated by the court, and that the fact of other persons having been in that car on this particular night is a relevant fact for the purpose of establishing that it is possible that those other persons were the sole perpetrators of the crime.
“Third. For the purpose of impeaching the testimony of the witness Eutes, the railroad detective.
“Fourth. For the reason that defendant considers the affidavit and warrant issued in this case to be a part of its record; that the affidavit, the warrant, the information, and the minutes of the court constitute the record of the case, and are admissible in evidence as forming part of such record.
“Fifth.

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Related

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148 So. 668 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1933)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 So. 182, 133 La. 584, 1913 La. LEXIS 2070, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-natcisse-la-1913.